I thank Deputy Doherty. The Department continues to work closely with the Central Bank on all mortgage related matters. Changes in the interest rate on a tracker mortgage are determined by any movement in the underlying rate being tracked and, in line with the terms and conditions of the mortgage contract, these changes are applied to tracker mortgages customers by their lenders. This approach applies to all tracker mortgage customers, including those who have remained with the original lender, and to borrowers who…

It should certainly not be the case that any individual borrower is disadvantaged because of where their tracker mortgage ended up, so the principle of remediation being applied across the board is one I absolutely subscribe to. I will examine the issue the Deputy has raised. The original lenders were in scope and they should have followed through with those customers. As the Deputy knows, even customers whose loans had been extinguished were also brought back into the scope of the examination, so the fact the loan…

As I say, it should not be the case that those borrowers would be disadvantaged in regard to the application of the tracker redress or remediation scheme because of where their loan ended up. I will examine that issue. Of course, it is also the case that their tracker mortgage contract has to be fully honoured by the new loan owner. The Deputy said they were compensated, they got redress and their loan is now with the new loan owner. That loan owner has to fully honour and abide by the tracker.

They do not have the option to fix, and I understand the point the Deputy is making. I will examine the issue offline.

In January of this year, officials from my Department compiled a ministerial briefing on a number of measures, including the temporary 9% VAT rate. This briefing included an economic assessment of the measure. The material outlined the macroeconomic backdrop to any extension of the 9% rate, noting that the economy has rebounded strongly from the pandemic and that economic activity is now above pre-pandemic levels. The briefing also contained an analysis of employment trends, reporting that employment in the sectors…

It is important to give certainty to the sector. It is appropriate we have a transition to the restoration of the rate on 1 September. There was considerable debate and speculation and it would have been challenging for many businesses that are dealing with increased energy and other costs and grappling with remaining competitive and keeping their doors open. I was very conscious of that. I was conscious also that putting it up would have resulted in some prices going up. VAT is a consumer tax. It is the last item …

I thank the Deputy for acknowledging there is a role for political judgment in all these decisions. As he well knows, given the way the public finances were managed, in the base it was provided that the underlying rate here is 13.5%. Accordingly, there is a cost to the Exchequer in the form of providing additional resources by way of revenue foregone were we to continue with the 9% rate over a longer period. That is why I have acknowledged there is a cost of €300 million associated with the extension to the end of …

At the time of budget 2023, my Department forecast the total level of public debt at the end of 2022 to be €226 billion. This is a level equal to 45% of GDP, 60% of GNP or 86% of GNI*. Gross national income, or GNI* as we call it, is considered the most reliable measure of economic activity in Ireland as it removes globalisation activity and thereby provides a better measure of the domestic economy. The estimate of €226 billion is approximately €23 billion higher than levels at the end of 2019. This reflects the si…

I thank the Deputy. As part of the European fiscal architecture, the Stability and Growth Pact is expressed in terms of GDP. That is not our preferred measure for Ireland for the reasons we have put on record on many occasions. That is why we now publish the GNI* measure regularly and why we express the national debt as a percentage of GNI*. This gives us a figure of 86%. I should put on record that debt servicing costs are a key ingredient in overall debt sustainability. Debt servicing costs last year were less th…

We have been very open and transparent about the limitations of GDP as a measure, as we see it, in respect of contract manufacturing, intellectual property, IP, flows and the role of aircraft leasing. That said, it is the official measure of economic activity in Europe and, indeed, across the developed world. We will, therefore, continue to provide this information, but we will also provide what we regard as a more meaningful measure of economic activity in Ireland by means of GNI* and we are happy, at any time, to…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 82, 84 and 87 together. The TBESS was introduced to support qualifying businesses with increases in their electricity or natural gas costs over the winter months. TBESS is provided for in sections 100 to 102, inclusive, of the Finance Act 2022. The scheme is administered by the Revenue and initially provided support to qualifying businesses in respect of energy costs relating to the period from 1 September 2022 to 28 February 2023. The scheme operates by reference to bills for the m…

We are seeing increases in the number of registrations and claims. The Revenue publishes statistical reports concerning TBESS weekly. These reports are available on the website. As of 1 March 2023, some 25,423 businesses had registered for the scheme and 23,833 claims had been approved, to the value of €51.65 million. Of course, the changes we announced two weeks ago will, I am certain, result in a significant increase in the number of businesses that will be eligible and in the amounts that can be successfully cla…

Are we taking amendments Nos. 1 and 2 together?

Previously, section 94(3) only catered for decisions made before the commencement of section 23. These amendments are necessary in order to ensure that decisions made after the commencement of section 53 will also be subject to the new Zalewski provisions in section 33AW, as intended. Amendment No. 1 is necessary to ensure that the section operates as intended and the new provisions apply to an inquiry decision that has not been notified to the inquiry subject, regardless of whether the decision is made before or a…

I confirm the second amendment to section 94 is a consequential amendment to delete subsection (5). The effect of the deleted subsection is achieved in subsection (2) in conjunction with the new subsection (3) in amendment No. 1. Both amendments were agreed by the Seanad and I am happy to commend them to the House. I will take the opportunity to thank Deputy Doherty in particular for his input and his work on this Bill and this issue more broadly over a long period of time. On my behalf and that of my predecessor a…

Is that amendment out of order?

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Including financial disclosure requirements in returns to the register was considered when the original Act was developed. It was also raised as part of the first and second statutory reviews of the Act. As outlined in the report relating to the first review, the options for requiring a financial disclosure were examined at the policy development stage. It was considered that including any financial disclosures on the register would require striking an appropriate balance b…

Deputy Shortall's amendment proposes to introduce an additional new review to evaluate the impact of administrative sanctions and the commission's capacity to impose this regime three years after the system is operable. The Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 already provides for a regular and comprehensive review regime. I do not consider that an additional review system is required. Section 2 currently obliges the Minister to conduct a review of the operation of the legislation every three years and make a report of …

I assure the House that SIPO will be given the resources it requires to operate this regime. This is a very important reform. This legislation has been introduced by me because there was a gap in enforcement provisions relating to section 22. We are now dealing with that. The recommendation from the Department was to opt for civil and administrative sanctions, for a variety of reasons. That is what we are giving effect to in this legislation. The officials are working very well with those in SIPO to make sure they …

I move amendment No. 6: In page 16, line 23, after “Expenditure” to insert “, National Development Plan Delivery”. This is a technical amendment, consequent to the recent name change to the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery, and Reform.